Selecting the right niche for your blog is a crucial part of making it successful. It’s important to have a niche so that your blog has direction. If you want to build a loyal audience, they need to know what to expect from you. And if you’re planning to monetize your blog, it’s even more important that you have a clear niche. It’s easier to find opportunities to earn money if you’re clear about what topics your blog covers and who your audience is.
Knowing that you need to choose a blog niche is one thing. Deciding which niche you should go with is something else entirely. There are so many things to consider when you’re choosing a niche. Some people might have an obvious area of expertise that they want to write about. But even then, you have to consider whether blogging within that niche is going to help you achieve your goals. Balancing things like your own knowledge, future outlook and opportunities for monetization can be difficult.
There are lots of approaches you can take when you’re working out which niche is right for your blog. Before you settle on a niche, you’ll want to go through a few steps to ensure you make the right choice.
Consider What You Know
When you’re trying to find a blog niche, you might start by thinking about any areas of expertise you might already have. This can be a good way to begin exploring your options because if you already have relevant knowledge or experience of a certain topic, you will have a much less steep learning curve.
Perhaps your career has given you experience and knowledge that will be useful. You might be very familiar with a specific industry or area of business. Maybe you have a lot of technical knowledge or professional experience that allows you to approach a certain subject with expertise.
Some people prefer to avoid niches that relate directly to their current day job. Outside of your work, you might have hobbies that you have learned a lot about over the years. Maybe you’re passionate about a particular sport, you’re enthusiastic about DIY, you love food, or you’re a regular crafter. You could have lots of knowledge, experience and passion to share with others.
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To start coming up with ideas, you can start writing down some topics you’re most familiar with. Start with your job and career, and the skills and knowledge you have picked up along the way. Your blog doesn’t have to be directly related to your current role. It could be that you want to blog about the industry you work in or a specific aspect of your job, such as public speaking or using a certain piece of software.
If you would rather steer away from your job, start thinking about other skills and knowledge that you might have. Do you have any qualifications or certifications that could be relevant, even if they’re from a past career or a previous time in your life? Are there any activities you grew up doing that you learned a lot about over the years, even if you’re no longer actively involved in them?
Think About What Interests You and Your Audience
Knowledge is one element to consider, but you should also think about what you find interesting. You don’t have to choose a niche that you’re incredibly passionate about, but it definitely helps if you at least find it interesting. You have to put a lot of work into making a blog work, including creating plenty of content. If you don’t find the subject matter interesting, you could find you quickly get bored.
But remember it’s not just about what you find interesting. It also matters what your audience will find interesting. The niche you choose needs to have an audience if you want your blog to be a success. Of course, there’s a good chance that if a subject interests you, it will be interesting to other people. But the real question is just how many people will be interested and whether that will translate to a solid readership.
Finding out what interests different audiences is a lot tougher than thinking about your own interests. While any interest is likely to be shared with at least some people, that doesn’t mean anything is the right pick for your blog. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to assess audience interest.
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Keyword research
Researching keywords is one good way of doing this. SEO is very important in blogging, with many bloggers saying it’s their main source of traffic. So finding out what people are searching for will help you determine whether there’s enough interest in the niche you’re considering.
There are various keyword tools you can use to search for keywords and related words and phrases. Tools such as the Google Ads Keyword Planner will give you average search volumes. Some tools can also give you a rating for how difficult it is to rank for that keyword in search engine results. Paid keyword tools can be useful, but starting with free tools is a good idea. You can still gain a lot of useful information without having to pay for anything.
Explore Profitability
The other key thing to consider is profitability. You’ve determined what you know, what interests you and what your audience finds interesting too. But none of these things will matter much if they don’t lead to ways for you to make money from your blog. If that’s your goal, profitability is really the number one thing you need to consider.
There are many profitable blogging niches, so looking for a way to make money from blogging doesn’t have to limit you. Some of the most profitable niches include food, health and fitness, and digital marketing. However, blogs within more specific niches can do well if they find the right audience.
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But how exactly can you find out if you have a chance at making your blog profitable? Looking at the most profitable niches is a good start, but it doesn’t mean they’re the only options. And they might not be right for you, especially if they’re not topics you’re familiar with or comfortable writing about.
To understand whether a blogging niche could be profitable, you’ll need to look at a few different factors. These include different ways to monetize your blog, your audience, and how much competition you could face.
Monetization options
The question of how you’re going to monetize your blog is definitely one that you need to answer. There are many options you can explore to start making money from a blog. Which will be most likely to work for you can depend on your niche, your audience and how much work you put in.
Two of the most popular ways of making money from a blog are advertising and affiliate marketing. Many bloggers use Google AdSense and other ad networks to place adverts on their blog. When users click on the ads, they earn ad revenue. Affiliate marketing involves promoting products and services on your blog, usually by placing a link in a blog post or writing a review or another kind of post about the product or service. If someone clicks on the link, which has a unique reference code, and makes a purchase, the blogger will earn a small amount of commission.
However, something to keep in mind is that many of the most profitable bloggers don’t just use these methods to make money. One of the most profitable things to do is to use your blog to promote a service or product that you want to offer. For example, a digital marketing expert might run a blog about digital marketing that also promotes their freelance services.
Target audience behaviors
You will also have to think about your target audience when considering how profitable your blog can be. More specifically, will your readers be willing to spend money? Do they have both the money and desire to buy from either you or your advertisers? Your audience needs to be willing to spend their money somewhere if you want your blog to be profitable. If they’re not directly buying your content, products or services, they should be clicking on ads or affiliate links and spending money with your partners.
Competition
The amount of competition you might face is another crucial component when considering the profitability of a certain blog niche. How many blogs already exist within that niche? What are they doing and what makes them successful? And what are you planning on doing differently?
If you’re considering a certain niche, be sure to do some research on what blogs already exist in that niche. Consider their size, their audience and what makes them stand out. You’ll need your own thing to differentiate your blog from others.
Think carefully about which blogging niche could be right for you and do plenty of research. Combine your expertise and passion, audience interest and profitability to find the right niche.
